JEWELLER Alastair Walker has published a book detailing some of the highlights of his previous life as a motorcycle journalist.
“Circles in the Sand” tells the story of one of his adventures when he joined the press team on the 2001 Paris-Dakar Rally.
This saw bikers, car drivers and truck drivers all travelling more than 10,000 kms across France, Spain and North West Africa to reach Dakar in Senegal. Alastair is now co-owner of PJ’s Jewellers in Warrington Market. But he has never forgotten the exciting life he led as a motorcycle magazine journalist.
The Dakar Rally now takes place in South America, after a series of tragic accidents and terrorist attacks made the original route too dangerous.
Alistair’s paperback chronicles the inside story of the Dakar as it used to be – landmines in the Sahara, night terrors fuelled by anti-malaria drugs and desert airstrip landings in the teeth of violent sandstorms. The author lifts the lid on one of the most famous motorsport events of all time, in a pacey story of gritty endurance, speed and danger.
He said: “It’s been 15 years since I packed a tent and headed off to Paris, wondering if I’d survive the toughest off-road race event in the world.
“It was a life-changing odyssey across the Sahara; nobody in Britain knows what real poverty is until you visit Africa. It was a scary, yet beautiful journey; sleeping on runways, freezing in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and then experiencing the intense heat of Mauretania, Mali and Senegal. The Dakar isn’t quite the same now it is run in South America. It’s safer, but it’s lost a little bit of soul.”
“Circles In The Sand – Inside The Paris Dakar” costs £5.90 and can be found on the Createspace section on Amazon; http://www.amazon.com/Circles-In-The-Sand-Paris-Dakar/dp/151762066X There’s also a Kindle version available on Amazon.
Jeweller Alastair’s pacey story of endurance, speed and danger
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